In 1998, Lenny Dirickson was having breakfast with his son when an unidentified man asked about a horse Lenny had for sale. Lenny left with the man but did not return home. It later emerged that Lenny had never advertised that he had a horse for sale, which led to many unanswered questions.
On March 14, 1998, 39-year-old Leonard “Lenny” Dirickson and his 16-year-old son Jared began their typical Saturday morning with breakfast together at Larry's dairy farm near Cheyenne, Oklahoma.
At 9:00, while they were eating, a guest came arrived unannounced in what Jared described as a white pickup truck. Lenny stepped outside and Jared watched for a few minutes as his father interacted with the stranger from inside the house, and while he sensed no history between them, their conversation seemed genial.
Jared described the stranger as a Caucasian man with a full, reddish beard and wearing a baseball cap with the words “No Fear” printed on the front. He appeared to be in his early 40s, over 5'10″ tall and about 210 pounds. Jared noticed that he otherwise couldn't get a very good look at him.
When Lenny returned, Lenny told Jared that the man had inquired about selling one of Lenny's stud horses and had expressed interest in seeing the animal.
Before leaving with the man, Jared testified that his father had recently told him, “So he told me he was going with him. He told me to stay here and… get some feed and go feed the cows, and he'll be back in the afternoon.
That day, Lenny was scheduled to head to Elk City, Oklahoma, and Mobeetie, Texas, although Jared didn't know which would be their first destination.
Lenny was scheduled to return later that evening, but he never came home. Jared waited until the next morning until he and his family reported Lenny missing. After a thorough search of the home, investigators discovered that Lenny had left uncashed paychecks at home, but had $150 or possibly less on him on the day he disappeared.
Investigators later revealed that Lenny never advertised a horse for sale. After searching the property where Lenny kept his horse farm, investigators discovered that Lenny had not arrived there that day. Every possible lead yielded no valuable information, police found no signs of a struggle, no evidence of foul play, and no body.
According to Jared and his family, the possibility that Lenny left on his own terms is unlikely. At the time of his disappearance, Lenny was struggling financially and emotionally. Lenny was struggling with serious financial problems.
He was in debt, his credit cards were maxed out, and his Dairy Farm company had gone out of business a few months earlier, in December 1997, due to falling prices. He also recently went through a painful divorce in 1996 that split the family amid a bitter custody battle over Jared and his younger sister.
However, Lenny's family insists that such behavior would be very unlike him and firmly believe that he would not abandon his family.
Jared said, “Me and my dad were together every day. Every morning we went to work, did our chores, and I went to school. I don't think he ever left me and never came back to see me or anything because… we were close and I don't think he would ever do that to me.
Lenny had also been employed by a local metal company since January, and his family says he enjoyed his job so much that Lenny's father was considering buying the business for him shortly before his disappearance.
Shortly after 9:00 that morning, a waitress claimed to have seen Lenny and another man eating breakfast together at a local cafe. Clif Gann, an inspector with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation, says of the sighting: “They were sitting in a restaurant.
And the unknown man we're trying to identify did most of the talking, and Leonard was just drinking coffee and listening to the man's… conversation. The eyewitness' description of the man matched Jared's description, and according to the waitress, there was nothing suspicious about the man's behavior.
Six months after his disappearance, a man called the police claiming he had seen Lenny at a bar in Amarillo, Texas. Over the phone, he managed to describe the man in detail, but he refused to give his name, remaining anonymous.
By the time local police arrived at the bar, both the caller and the man he claimed to be Lenny Dirickson were gone. The next day, the police interrogated the bartender who worked there that night, which confirmed the interlocutor's version.
She apparently remembered that the caller was at the bar, but had no other information. Joe Hay, the county sheriff, said of the incident: “We had no reason not to believe it. It almost stretches the imagination that a guy would be dancing in a bar screaming and yelling, “It's Leonard, it's Leonard,” and it wouldn't be Leonard. I think he was at a bar in Amarillo.
Lenny's case remains unsolved and his family is still waiting for answers as to the whereabouts of their beloved father, son and friend.
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